It is often forgotten that when the United States was dealing with the economic depression of the 1930’s, the federal government sponsored adobe home-building project in several locations across the country. One outstanding example was at Bosque Farms, a small farming community a few miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The community was established to help relocate farm families devastated by the droughts that created the “Great Dust Bowl” of northern New Mexico, west Texas and Oklahoma. The government acceptance of earth building techniques during the Great Depression years of the 1930’s was also seen in Gardendale, Alabama, where a homestead program was instituted.
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This is the period the USDA also kicked into gear and produced many booklets for the farm family to be self reliant in building. Rammed earth, adobe, pise, clay-cob plasters, lime plasters, cement use and pole/log treatment were well described, in simple terms, for manual/low tech construction.
The information is still useful for DIY and owner builders today.